The father is
by Sky Shark X2
Summary: Its Rukia's birthday and normally she'd be the one being suprised, well on this day Ichigo learns a secret she's been keeping. And the events that follow. IchiRuki
1. The Father is

Author Note: I don't own Bleach, If I did I would be a very happy man. Also this fits into an AU in the sense that this takes place before the Annacar (sp?) attack but after the Bounto ark so its kinda like the first movie and the second OVA, out side the normal timeline of the series.

Chapter 1: The father is….

"It's January Dad, why do I have to go out on foot to get her the ice cream cake? It's 14 degrees….but noo, I had to go out and for some reason my gloves and coat are mIsshing." Ichigo muttered to himself as he walked back to his home holding a box with a vanilla ice cream cake with little Chappy faces on it and 'happy birthday Rukia' in the center. He didn't have candles, first of all he had no exact age, and second of all it wouldn't be right to ask.

He walked into the house and put the cake in the fridge. No one else was there yet except for his family and Rukia, obviously. She was eating a small protein bar, something that had been nagging at him for the last few months. She seemed like she was almost displaying signs of pregnancy, she was almost eating for two, he could have sworn she had tried to hide some mood swings here and there and there were times in the morning she was in the bathroom for a half hour without any water running. Isshian looked over the sofa at his son, and called over seriously and calmly.

"Ichigo, please come over here; we were waiting for you to tell you something…" Isshin said.

"Okay…" Ichigo said, but was worried a bit now. Karin and Yuzu where there too-this was definitely something big. Rukia was sitting next to Isshian with a mixed feeling look on her face.

"What is it?" Ichigo said.

"Well we thought it would be good to let you know this before the party starts in an hour or so." Isshin said and Rukia picked up, "Ichigo, I know I've already turned your life on its head once, so believe me I had no idea that this would happen…..Ichigo, what I'm trying to say is, you're going to be a father."

Ichigo's mouth hung open and went small eye, "Please, please tell me your joking…..oh god I should have noticed I shouldn't have pushed it off as me over reacting." His mind was boggled; he was only turning 17 later that year.

"Ichigo, I…I wanted to let you know earlier but there were so many possibilities that could have happened. Shinigami and humans having a baby is a very rare thing; it needs to be with both in a physical body, obviously one is in a gigai or both need to be on a spirit level. Also it's rare that pregnancy results. Finally I don't recall anyone talking about a female Shingami getting pregnant from sex with a human. The other way around I have, actually I think the last time it happened was only almost 20 years ago or so." Rukia explained.

"Well that's a relief knowing we won't be sore thumbs or something in the Soul Society….right?" Ichigo asked, just as he said it, he noticed his slip, but that was the least of his concerns.

"Heh, yeah right, get ready, you're gonna hear a whole lot of shit for it." Isshian said with a slight chuckle.

"How would you know old man?" Ichigo asked.

Isshian quickly replied, "And now is the time that Ichigo and I go to the other room and have a nice father to son talk for the next few minutes, and you three ladies stay out here. He grabbed Ichigo and pulled him into the next room.

"So….Ichigo finally scored. Never thought it would be with you." Karin said and added, "And he knocked you up too."

"Yeah? So, he's seventeen and I'm one hun….seven…seventeen as well. We were at a party one night, one thing led to another." Rukia said plainly.

"Yuzu, if I ever end up like those two kill me please, quickly." Karin said.

"Why, I think it's cute that Ichi-nii found someone he loves." Yuzu replied.

"Yuzu." Karin said.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Ichigo and Isshin walked out of the room a few minutes later, and Ichigo had a shocked/angered look on his face. Rukia's expression changed to a worried one.

"Guess what Karin, Yuzu!" Ichigo said in fake happy voice.

"What is it Ichigo?" Karin asked, not very enthusiastically.

"Apparently half of what we've known to be truth is a lie! Turns out grandma and grandpa on the old man's side of the family never really existed. Dude did a great job at faking his life…" Ichigo said and continued to explain the whole situation of how Isshin was a Shinigami, and Rukia got her personal visual aids to help simplify the explanation further. Karin seemed slightly surprised that her moron—or, well, who she thought to be a moron was actually a very important person at one time and, powerful. She had known about Ichigo's Shinigami activity for a while then, but never knew that her dad was a Shinigami.

Yuzu, on the other hand, was extremely shocked and had a hard time taking it in at first.

"So, I have just one question Rukia." Karin said.

"Go ahead." Rukia, still holding her last visual aid of a gigai and a soul, and how they are perceived by humans.

"Why do you drawings suck?"

Ichigo face palmed, expecting Karin to get bashed in the head by the drawing board as he had experienced on more than a few times. Instead, Rukia almost started crying but was able to hold it back.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the next hour they prepared the house for Rukia's birthday party. Rukia had told them it was going to be small, and by small they assumed five or six people. Instead, somehow, a fifth of her squad came in gigais, Renji. Then there were the given, Orihime, Sado, and Ishida, along with a couple of her classmates that Ichigo never really talked to or knew about.

"Rukia, we are having a talk about the meaning of 'small!'" Ichigo muttered as they welcomed the guests.

Ichigo was about to close the door when a pale hand grabbed the door and pushed it open. "Excuse me, but I believe I have a right to be here, and to be treated with respect Kurosaki," Byakuya said coldly walking in.

"I didn't know you were there." Ichigo said, but Byakuya didn't seem to pay attention to him and walked right past him. He walked to Rukia, looking at her and said, "Happy Birthday," still keeping his voice normal. To anyone who didn't know him, they would find it extremely rude and cold, but for him-this was something.

"Thank you, Nii-san, how did you manage to get here though? I thought you'd be busy at work, just like every other year." Rukia said, lowering her head slightly.

"I wasn't as overloaded today, I can't stay for long-only about an hour, and then I really should get back." Byakuya said.

"Well it's nice enough of you to come, thank you very much." Rukia said.

After a half hour of talking amongst everyone, Isshin brought the cake out with lit candles and placed it on the kitchen table. Rukia looked at the candles it read "1??" she made a mental note to kill Ichigo. Then again he did get a cake with Chappy on it; maybe she wouldn't kill him after all- what would she say to her child when it asked where daddy was? Her high school classmates didn't get the joke but everyone else who knew her did. She closed her eyes made a wish and blew out the candles.

"So what did you wish for?" Orihime asked.

"If I told then it wouldn't come true." Rukia said.

"Come on, it's not like anyone actually believes in that anymore…"

"Fine, I wished Ichigo and my child would lead a happy long life." Rukia said.

"Child?" Orihime looked confused.

"Yeah, a child. The product of a man and a girl. In six months I will have a child." Rukia said. Everyone who didn't know already in the room went dead pan silence.

Byakuya was repeating to himself in his head, "Please be a joke, a very bad joke."

After a minute it finally clicked with everyone one by one. Renji first, who blurted out, "HOLY CRAP RUKIA, YOU SLEPT WITH ICHIGO?"

"That is generally how one goes after having sex Renji, why are you so surprised at this?" Rukia said.

"It's just…what do you see in him?" Renji said, not saying that what he really felt like saying-about how he loved her, not wanting to complicate the situation.

"Renji, isn't this something we should talk in private? I'm sure that no one else wants to here this." Rukia said, slipping into her schoolgirl act.

After the whole shock calmed down, Rukia opened her presents. She got a stuffed Chappy doll from Renji, a How to Draw book from Ichigo, a few romance novels from Yuzu and Karin, a cook book made by Orihime, and various other things-small jewelry, and Chappy products from the others. Both Ichigo and Rukia kept a distance from each other, having mixed feelings about the day's current events. Ichigo also made damn sure he wasn't near Byakuya- the last thing he needed was the captain trying to kill him. The party lasted a few hours and then everyone left except Byakuya. Renji smacked Ichigo and said, "You better freakin' love her or I'll kill you before Byakuya does."

"Nii-sama, why are you still here? I thought you couldn't stay long." Rukia said, slightly nervous.

"We need to talk about you two." Byakuya said calmly.

The two nodded and along with Yuzu, Isshian and Karin, sat down on a sofa which had wrapping paper still on it from earlier.

"What is there to talk about?" Ichigo asked.

"About your marriage and future of course. After all, you have shown your affections for each other and your future child is proof of this." Byakuya said.

"Nii-sama, don't you think you are taking this a little extreme?" Rukia said.

"Not at all, you two are having a child and naturally that is an aspect of a family,-should you two not be wed it would make you look like a whore, sex is a serious thing and shouldn't be taken lightly." Byakuya said.

"Call her a whore one more time and I'll kill you, I'm not sure how things run up in the Soul Society but sex between a girlfriend and boyfriend isn't that uncommon here, it's the having a child part that is." Ichigo said, extremely angry at Byakuya.

"That may be true but Rukia is a Kuchiki, and we are of the Soul Society and a noble clan at that. It was hard enough having my clan accept her and my late wife, due to the fact that they were commoners. I might be the head of the clan, but it doesn't mean the rest will accept what I do blindly." Byakuya explained.

"Why don't we just have a wedding in the Soul Society, you know, to please your clan and the others but just let them work on their relationship on their own terms here in the real world?" Isshin suggested. Ichigo was still trying to get used to his dad being a Shinigami and the whole overly goofy appearance most likely being a façade.

"I will consider it, for now, however, in the mean time Kurosaki Ichigo, I expect you to be nothing less than a gentleman to my sister, and if I hear you are messing around with another girl I will personally kill you myself. Also don't threaten me again, or I will kill you." Byakuya said, "Now I must leave, I have important work and appointments to make."

"But I thought you would consider it…." Ichigo said, confused.

"That was toward the real world end of your relationship, either way, you two ARE getting married." Byakuya said, and took his leave.

"Great….well, now what?" Ichigo said. Rukia looked at him, "Think this is a bad time tell you but I accidentally threw up on your coat and gloves this morning….."

Ichigo, upset but not too busy thinking about the day's events to think to himself that the next hollow that attacked him would be one sorry SOB. He decided that.

"Its alright, I understand Rukia. Well, this is gonna be weird at school. I mean, you can only pretend you're not pregnant for so long at school."

"Let's cross that road when we get there." Rukia said.

"Yeah, we should focus on what you'll be wearing to the wedding." Isshin said, and was immediately met with a kick to the face from both Ichigo and Rukia.

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2: The Wedding

**Chapter 2**

"So the wedding is tonight?" Ichigo asked, unenthusiastically.

"Yeah, everyone who's going is to be at Urahara's for 6pm today." Rukia said from inside Ichigo's closet--she had gotten Isshin to let her sleep in there again, since the other day, after a bit of acting. "If you really loved me as a daughter-in-law, you'd let me," was the line that put him over the top that time.

"I just hope someone doesn't open their mouth about you being pregnant." Ichigo said.

"If you think people's reactions to the news will be bad, think about the hell I'm gonna go through for the next 6 months." Rukia said.

"Oh come on, you're exaggerating." Ichigo said. The fact that she was a good liar to keep up the school girl act at school made him skeptical about things she said sometimes, but not always.

"Exaggerating? Could you care to tell me how back pain, morning sickness, mood swings and other things wouldn't make my life a living freaking hell?" Rukia yelled.

"Never mind, we're gonna be late if we keep this up." Ichigo said, as Rukia slipped out of the closet.

"Yeah let's get going, I don't feel like having to eat breakfast in 2 seconds like last Thursday, it does not sit well." Rukia said.

"Ichigo….everyone's staring at us…me in particular." Rukia said quietly as they walked to their classroom; they weren't late but most people had already gotten to school by then.

"Just ignore them, you're paranoid and if anyone harasses us we can scare the shit out of them tonight." Ichigo whispered back.

"You mean you. Do you really think it's safe for a soul to leave and re-enter a gigai during pregnancy? There's a split second before a Soul Candy kicks in, and when you don't have a soul, you die….which means a developing baby would die." Rukia snapped back quietly, "Unless you'd want me to risk a miscarriage."

Ichigo said nothing and walked into the classroom to be greeted by a classroom full of clapping and Keigo slapping him on the back.

"What the hell?" Ichigo shouted.

"Orihime told me all about you two love birds and I thought it would be good to congratulate you. Ichigo, you are the luckiest guy in all of the high school." Keigo said, almost tearing.

"How many people know?" Ichigo asked, wanting to snap Keigo's neck and yell at Orihime.

"The whole school got the office to give you two best wishes with your baby." Keigo said.

"Keigo, you have 3 seconds before I kill you." Ichigo said.

"I'm gonna be sick…." Rukia said, covering her mouth as she dashed for the girl's bathroom, but franticly she went into the boys'.

When she returned, everyone was in their sheets, though Keigo was black and blue all over his face and nobody dared look at her for more than a second. She smiled to herself- having Ichigo as a boyfriend/soon to be husband had its advantages already, she thought, and took her seat next to Ichigo. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful except for lunch when Ichigo and she took turns chewing Orihime out about telling Rukia's former secret. They never really got more than a distant "I'm sorry" from her, her mind seemed to be elsewhere. After 2 years, Ichigo still had no idea of the one-sided love she had for him, perhaps the only person who knew was Tatsuki and to make matters worse Orihime was attending the wedding.

"So 6pm?" Sado asked, being very brief and to the point.

"Yeah, don't say any more or people will start getting ideas." Ichigo said.

"I'm still surprised Byakuya hasn't run you through yet," Said Uryuu.

"The reason he hasn't is because of a certain event starting with M." Ichigo said. He felt retarded but he didn't want to throw the dogs another bone, his friends were keeping their distance but he could hear them talking about him and Rukia. Apparently every boy…and a couple of girls without or with a girlfriend had some level of a crush on Rukia.

"Ah, well this will be interesting. I'm surprised Byakuya letting me near the wedding, with me being a Quincy and all." Uryuu said.

"Probably cause you helped fight the Bontou and stuff." Ichigo said before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, "Or they just wanted to bring you there to kill you while we're doing our thing."

Later that night, everyone met up at Urahara's; Rinrin, Nova, Cloud, and Kon were also going. Kon was the only one in doll form. They were in the training room below the shop, looking at the door that would take them to the Soul Society. Ichigo was not looking forward to this, again. Isshin and Ichigo were in their spirit forms, Rukia for the child's safety remained in her gigai.

"So this thing, is taking us to the afterlife?" Yuzu asked.

"Yes, it will, don't worry though it won't kill you or anything….unless you fall behind in transit. Like I said before, this gate will convert you into spirit energy, which will let you exist in the Soul Society and then upon return, it will turn you back into your real forms." Urahara said.

"Don't worry Yuzu, Dad and I are gonna carry you, Kon, Karin and Rukia." Ichigo said

"You are not carrying me, Kurosaki Ichigo. I might be pregnant but I am not helpless." Rukia said.

"Who said I'm helping you midget, my kid's future is based on your survival." Ichigo snapped back. Sado, Uryuu and Orihime groaned slightly, here they were going to get married and they were at each other throats again. It had taken everyone time to realize it but usually this was a sign of their care for each other in some weird way.

"PUT ME DOWN DAMN IT!" Rukia screamed four minutes later, as everyone minus Urahara entered the portal.

"If I do, then you'll get lost in here so shut it, midget." Ichigo snapped back.

"Really innovative, strawberry!" Rukia snapped back.

"Both of you two shut it or I'll knock you two both down." Isshin snapped, growing tired of and unused to the two's bickering.

Rukia and Ichigo ignored him and continued yelling at each other, and eventually got to a point where they looped the same insults back and forth. Finally, the argument was put aside when they saw the exit and went through it. Moments later, it was replaced by the high-pitched screams of Rukia and Yuzu as they fell 20 feet to a dirt surface. Luckily, they all landed on their feet and very close to the Seireitei.

Isshin, Ichigo, and Rukia walked ahead where Renji was at the gate. He looked slightly angry but greeted Ichigo with, "Oi! Ready for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? I thought it was going to be tonight." Ichigo said looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"No…they didn't tell you? It's tomorrow. You're having dinner at Kuchiki-san's manor tonight." Renji said, as he escorted them into the Seireitei.

"Live or spend a night at Byakuya's house……yeah, I guess living is more acceptable." Ichigo said.

After about an hour and half of walking the group reached the manor. Renji said good bye and wished Ichigo luck, he had about 3000 yen on him, making it through the night without fighting Byakuya with Ikkaku. Ichigo took a deep breath, "Well, here we go."

"So…Ichigo, how long have you and my sister been…what's the word? Going steady?" Byakuya asked.

"Um, well, seeing as I haven't dated anyone before or currently other than Rukia, I guess since the Halloween party my friend held." Ichigo said.

"Halloween?" Byakuya asked.

"Yeah it's some stupid holiday when people dress up as certain things-sometimes ghosts, which is really annoying and stupid, and go across town getting candy from people. Pretty much Rukia dragged me to the party after Orihime invited us

"Ah, I see. Well, I'll be honest with you. You weren't first on my list of people I'd like to see my sister get married to; but if you love each other that much then it can't be ignored." Byakuya said calmly, which was pissing Ichigo off.

"What is with him, he's knows damn well why we're getting married. Might as well just suck it up, maybe Kenpachi will realize I'm here and drag me off for a fight, at least I wouldn't be here bored out of my mind." Ichigo thought before feeling a hand on his leg for a moment. "Also, what the hell is with Rukia, is she gonna go homicidal or something? She never acts that lovey dovey or that crap unless we start making out during an argument…."

The rest of the meal was very long and boring. By the end of it, Rukia could swear she could cut the tension between her, Nii-sama, and Ichigo. "Well I'm happy this is over with." Ichigo said as he walked to a guest room with Uryuu.

"Yeah me too, I thought he was gonna kill you or vice versa." Uryuu replied.

"What's pissing me off is that act he pulled, acting like I proposed to Rukia." Ichigo said.

"Perhaps he's just interested in learning what you see in her, or maybe he's just trying to make the situation feel more normal to himself. I mean, you told me how he was going to let Rukia get executed because nobles had to follow the rules that are put down as an example. Then again, he might just want to piss you off." Uryuu said, shrugging at the end of his sentence.

"Probably option C." Ichigo said.

"If you don't mind me asking, what _do_ you see in her?"

"Probably the fact that she's got a nice side, and she gives a good fight when it comes to arguing. She cares but doesn't let that show too much. Other than that, she is rather nice looking, it's hard for me to word it….but if you tell anyone this….." Ichigo said in a low voice.

Uryuu replied, "I know, you'll run me through with Zangetsu." And the two headed to bed for the night.

"Is something wrong Orihime?" Rukia asked, noticing Orihime was not her cheerful self.

"No, nothing's wrong Kuchiki-san. What makes you think there is?" Orihime replied quietly.

"You've been out of it since after I told everyone I was pregnant at my birthday party, actually-more or less right after I told you that Nii-sama arranged for Ichigo and I to marry." Rukia said.

"I'm sorry I'm really tired, I have to go to bed now…good night Kuchiki-san" Orihime said, and went into the guestroom she was given and went to bed, crying to herself softly yet Rukia overheard it as she started to walk away.

Rukia tried to put it out of her head, it wasn't her place to dig any deeper if Orihime didn't want her too. She was her friend and needed to trust Orihime when she said nothing was wrong-well, she should trust her. Rukia tried to go to sleep that night but it was hell for her. She had so many things going through her head. The situation Ichigo was in now, her being pregnant and soon to be wed, what would happen to her work as a Shinigami after the child was born, would it be safe? She was about to fall asleep, replaying her last conversation with Orihime one last time, when it hit her like a brick. She shot up straight from her matt and quickly threw on her nearest kimono and slipped out of her room and made her way to Ichigo's room.

"How did we never see this, how did HE never see this? Damn it Orihime, if only you knew how much hell is probably going to stem from this." Rukia muttered to herself in a rage, as she slammed open the door to Ichigo's room, grabbed him by the hair, and dragged him out.

"Rukia? What the hell? It's gotta be like 3am." Ichigo sputtered, confused.

"Conference-you, Miss One-Sided Love, and myself." Rukia spat out harshly. Ichigo said nothing, knowing full well that she was not in one of those moods to argue with.

He had learned over the last few months from dating, that she had different angry moods. Mostly she was open to argument, which in fact lead to many of their make out sessions, but then there were the, 'Say another word, counter what I think, and you're as good as ice.' Moods. This current mood was of the latter.

"Kuchiki-san, what are you doing here?" Orihime asked as Rukia barged into her room, dragging Ichigo in as well.

"Conference-we need talk about you two." Rukia said.

"What about us two? You still haven't explained this to me!" Ichigo said, after Rukia finally let him go.

"Oh yeah….I forgot to tell you. Well, I've finally come to the realization that Inoue here has a crush on and/or loves you." Rukia said, "Am I correct?" She asked Orihime, turning to her in a serious voice.

"Well….um…I, yes Kuchiki-san." Orihime replied softly.

"Inoue, why didn't you tell me before? I mean, I like you as a friend, but that's it. You could have saved a few years of pointless hoping and stuff. Is that why you've been acting odd lately?" Ichigo asked, looking down at Orihime, who was on her knees sitting.

"I guess…I was just nervous and had been thinking that you weren't interested in me, so when I saw you and Kuchiki-san getting closer I never said anything because it might have unsettled things between you two. I was happy for you two, but a little jealous at the same time." Orihime said.

"Really? Well Orihime, its natural for you to have feelings like that. You're actually handling it greatly. You know how many girls I've seen try to sabotage relationships because of that reason….keep in mind, I'm over 100." Rukia said, trying to make Orihime feel better. The three talked for a few more minutes, trying to make Orihime feel better and succeeded for the most part. When she asked Rukia why she had to do this at 3am, she said she didn't want anyone upset or anything like that at the wedding the next morning, not mentioning the anger spike she felt when she realized Orihime loved Ichigo and had a slight psycho moment.

The next morning Ichigo awoke to feeling his father jump right on top of him shouting, "Good Morning...Ichigo!!"

Ichigo woke up with a startle and immediately kicked Isshin back through the door of the room, landing right in front of Byakuya. His head developed a slight blood vessel for a moment but he quickly suppressed it and said calmly. "What did you do to my door?"

"Well, I was training my son in how to be prepared at any moment and apparently he's getting good." Isshin said, after quickly springing up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Just make sure he's on time. The wedding is in two hours, I will not allow my sister's husband to be late to her special day." Byakuya said coldly, and walked off.

"You hear that, better get ready soon son, your clothes are on the table-seeya." Isshin said and started to walk off, only to get kicked back to the ground by Ichigo with a kick to the head.

"Always stay on guard old man." Ichigo said before going back to his room and grabbing the clothes to change in a back area, still obscured from view. Isshin rubbed his head as he walked off muttering, "Better take it easy, he's good."

An hour and fifty-five minutes later, Ichigo found himself flash stepping his way across buildings, looking for the shrine where he was to marry Rukia. "Damn it Byakuya, why the hell couldn't you give me a map? Like I know how to navigate the Seireitei. Finally, he saw a lighting bolt shoot up from one of the many shrines. He jumped down to it immediately. His friends looked relieved that he made it, while the Kuchiki clan members were annoyed.

"Sorry, I got lost." Ichigo said-it was the only thing he could say. He got some eye rolls before they took their seats on the benches in the center of the shrine, which on reflection was beautiful-it had short, well-trimmed grass, and a couple of small fish ponds next to some rocks.

"Just don't mess this up anymore or you'll start making me look bad, and you don't want that." Byakuya said calmly, putting his hand on his sword's hilt. He couldn't see Rukia, apparently they believed in that custom of seeing the future spouse on the wedding day or some crap like that, he figured. He headed to the altar like instructed, feeling awkward and sweaty. He noticed taciho-Hitsugaya was standing at it. On the right side was his friends and family and on the left were members of the Kuchiki clan and Rukia's friends from her squad. Renji ended up on his side, he figured it was because he had about 8 people on his side and Rukia's had more like 30.

"Yes, I will be the one marrying you two." He said quietly, answering any questions Ichigo had.

Once everyone had taken a seat and a moment had passed, some bridal music started playing form somewhere, he wasn't quite sure where. Perhaps it was a Hell Butterfly.

Ichigo looked down, straightening his robe, he looked at it with detail for the first time since he was rushing earlier. It was very nice, made out of a fine quality fabric; he was surprised Byakuya had given him this over a rag and old beat up ceremonial robe. He assumed that he wanted Rukia's wedding to be perfect or close to it. Byakuya never showed it, but everyone pretty much knew he cared about Rukia.

He looked up from his robe; now perfect, to see Byakuya walking Rukia down the aisle, halfway down. He saw her clearly in her pearl white dress, gold flowers running along it diagonally and around the waist. Her hair, which she kept part of it over her head and dangling near her eye, was pulled back but a transparent veil covered her face. She looked absolutely beautiful, he thought. Byakuya stepped to the left side as they got near the altar, letting Rukia walk up to face Ichigo from the left side of the altar.

Hitsugaya then began the ceremony, not even trying to be enthusiastic, "Dearly beloved we are gathered here to witness a union of two souls in ever-binding marriage, as souls we take our vows in greatest regard. For love is an undeniable thing, and marriage is a symbol of that undying love and is not to be taken lightly. Now is the time for vows to be exchanged, the two loves expressing why they love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together."

Ichigo was wordless; he had forgotten about a vow, no one brought it up. He stood silent for a minute trying to think of something. He never really was good at explaining this stuff out loud and in front of Byakuya, one wrong adjective or word and he might end up dead or fighting the tachio right then and there.

"Ichigo…say something." Rukia said softly, nervous sounding.

"..Rukia you….I, find you beautiful, I love your attitude how you don't take shit from anyone. You stand up for yourself, care for others. Even though I think your constant Chappy is annoying, you are cute when you do you visual aids with him in it." Ichigo said

Rukia looked almost like she was going to cry in happiness but didn't. She said, "Ichigo, you've been there for me and saved me multiple times, without concern for yourself. You've shown you care for me and I care for you. I don't have much that I can word right now to explain how I care for you but trust me in this, I love you Kurosaki Ichigo."

They both looked at each other, realizing how awkward their vows were, but hey-they both had come up with them on the spot.

"That was very…nice." Hitsugaya said and continued, "Then do you Kurosaki Ichigo take Kuchiki Rukia to be your wife, in sickness and health, till death do you part?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you Kuchiki Rukia take Kurosaki Ichigo to be your husband in sickness and health, till death do you part?"

"Yes."

"Then by the power vested in me by the Taciho-Commander, I pronounce you husband and wife; you may kiss the bride." Histygua said.

Ichigo was confused about what happened to rings, but it would disrupt the ceremony if he asked now and he felt like staying in one piece, so he lifted Rukia's veil and bent down to kiss her. They began kissing a little longer than they should have, which started making a few people feel weirder out but no one said anything, after all they surely cared greatly for each other. Isshin was the cause of them to stop kissing. He shouted, "Yeah, way to go Ichigo!! Show her what it means to know a Kurosaki!"

"Shut up pervert." Ichigo shouted, breaking the kiss and took one of his shoes off and chucked it at his dad's head, hitting him square in the forehead. Instantly, everyone other than him and Rukia started applauding, including Byakuya, to a degree. "What did I do?" Ichigo asked, "All I did was shut him up."

"Exactly, Kurosaki. Isshin has a tendency that special moment between bride and groom if he knows one of them, and usually shouts words of encouragement for the honeymoon or something stupid like that." Hitsugaya explained.

"Does not surprise me at all." Ichigo said, "and what are you laughing at Rukia?"

Rukia had broken down into a laugh, "I'm sorry but your reaction to your dad when he interrupted us was priceless. You two should start a comedy bit or something."

"To Ichigo and Rukia, may they have a happy life together for a long time. Who would have thought your arguments were just you two denying that you loved each other and really didn't want to kill each other?" Uyruu said, making a toast to the married couple standing in front of him.

"To Ichigo and Rukia." The others repeated and held the wine glasses up a bit.

"Rukia, could I have a word with you for a moment?" Taciho Ukitake asked quietly.

"Of course taciho Ukitake-san." Rukia walked over to a corner with him, trying to ignore Ikkaku being a complete drunken baka. How he found enough wine at this party to get drunk on was beyond her and she didn't want to know

"Rukia, I understand that you're having a child and just got married so this might be a little early to tell you; I think it would be best if you were stationed in Kurakra town for the foreseeable future. It would allow you to be with your husband and child. However you wouldn't be able to get a seat in the squad, seeing as how often you'd be away from here. Basically, what I want to know is if you mind being stationed in the living world for the next eighteen odd years or so at least." Ukitake said quietly, looking at Rukia.

"I wouldn't mind at all, thank you very much though, taciho." Rukia said, and bowed politely.

"Not a problem, it's important that your child has a stable home life and a mother who is constantly there for him, as good as temporary souls might be, they can't substitute a parent's role." He said, "That's all I wanted to talk to you about, now go spend some time with your husband and also congratulations on getting married."

"Thank you." She said, and headed back the main clump of the party, looking for Ichigo but found Isshin first-he was still in one piece, good. She thought, and walked up to him and delivered a scratch smack to his face, drawing a bit of blood. "Heh, actually letting these nails grow a bit like Orihime suggested comes in handy." She said as Isshin screamed in pain.

"What the hell was that for?" Isshin demanded.

"For alluding to how Ichigo should have sex with me tonight during our wedding, pervert!" She shouted, enraged.

Everyone stopped talking and clapped for a second time. Rukia blushed, as Isshin franticly rushed around the room looking for someone from the 4th squad.

"Heeyyyy I just realized you laughed today." Ichigo said when she finally found him; he was near the wine table. Next to him were four wet but empty medium-sized wine glasses.

"….you just noticed that? Of course I did, it was great seeing you nail your dad in the face from ten feet in the middle of the wedding….and everyone applauded you, too." Rukia said.

"Yeah, I can see how that would be funny…you look cute when you laugh. Kinda scary though, never seen you be super happy, or in any form of a goofy mood." Ichigo said.

"Hey, I was just acting professional around you….I didn't want to look like some ditzy girl or anything like that. Also, you didn't seem to have that much of a sense of humor or be one to like a happy atmosphere." She said, "And I messed around with you, why do you think I tried to annoy you so much? Your cute when you get all pissed off and frustrated at me."

"Really?" Ichigo asked, he was learning a lot of stuff today that even in their three months of being boyfriend/girlfriend, at least not very publicly, in total. It was actually making him understand Rukia a bit more and he didn't really mind it.

"Yeah, now shut up and dance with me, it's my wedding day and I want it to be special even if we were pressured into it." Rukia said grabbing Ichigo's wrist and dragged him to the middle of the ball room.

"Everyone clear the way, the couple finally, decided to their first dance!" Renji shouted trying to get everyone's attention when that didn't work he unsheathed Zabimaru and yelled "Howl Zabimaru!" His sealed Zanpakutou released into its shi-kai form and got everyone to back away as he swung it around in a circle, letting the segments slide apart. Once everyone cleared a circle he resealed his Zanpakutou.

Rukia dragged Ichigo into the center of the circle and she thanked Renji. Ichigo had a slightly hard time getting his right hand on her back and his right on her upper left arm. Someone somewhere in the room started playing a smooth, loving sounding song. Ichigo and Rukia began to dance as the people who attended watched the couple have their first dance. Ichigo eventually identified it as a song by Dreams Come True, Sweet Sweet Sweet. They danced slowly to the calm music.

"Ichigo." Rukia whispered to him as the song got near the end.

"Yes Rukia?" Ichigo replied.

"I love you," She said softly moving closer to him.

"I love you too Rukia." He said, the had both forgotten about the fact that Byakuya had pretty much forced them to marry at that point and kissed lightly.

Later that night, the Kurosaki's returned to their home, to promptly go to bed. Everyone was worn out from the long day, Ichigo understood now why the wedding was so early in the afternoon, so they would be able to get home and have enough time to sleep enough to go to school the next day.

Ichigo was getting into his bed and heard Rukia grumbling. "What's wrong?"

"This damn shirt is getting freakin tight. They won't stretch either." She complained trying to stretch the front of the shirt.

"Rukia, they were made for an eleven year old girl, not a teenage body that happens to be short and pregnant, you've put on weight. Its got to have been tight already just deal with it one more night then we can get you some new and actually clothes of your own tomorrow." Ichigo said wanting to get her to go to bed, so he could go to sleep.

"It has, but before I was hiding the fact that I'm pregnant and buying bigger clothes would have been a tip off." Rukia said taking her pajama top off with her back turned to Ichigo and put a bra back on.

"Can I sleep with you tonight…" Rukia started to ask sweetly.

"No." A shocked Ichigo spat out, "Rukia, you do remember that marriage thing was a show for the people in Soul Society so you being pregnant wouldn't make the Kuchiki clan look bad."

"Yes, I do. But I don't have a thick blanket and its cold tonight. Also we could always have some…fun." She said giving him a wink.

"Rukia the last time we had 'fun' you got knocked up and I just don't feel right…doing it I'm sorry I guess I'm just a little old fashion. Rukia, I love you and believe me I enjoyed….it's just that…." Ichigo attempted to find the right words for what he meant to say. Rukia got the idea though and tried to finish for him, "Your still maturing and its gonna take you some time to be able to comfortable to lay in bed next to a girl you think is hot and to have "fun" with her, right?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." He replied.

"Alright then, I understand…just try to hurry up with the maturing please because I really want to have fun and after a couple more months its going to become difficult to do so." Rukia said and walked over to his bed. In the blink of an eye she whipped the top thick blanket off of Ichigo's sheets and headed to her closet and said firmly, "I'm still taking the blanket though," and climbed up into her closet bed and went to sleep. Ichigo, though shivering eventually fell asleep.

**Author's note: Please Review, epically if you add this to your alerts list. I love hearing what people have to say about the fan fic. I apologize for the long time it took me to get this chapter up, senior year of high school has me busy a lot of the time and due to the size of the chapter and that I really wanted to make sure this chapter turned out good it took me a while to get it out. I've also started trying to work in the politeness phrases at the end of names like they would say in the Japanese version and last names first depending on how well the characters know each other., I don't think I have it perfect yet but I'm working on it. I'm doing this because I support the RAW version a lot and I want to convey the sense that the characters are talking to each other in their Japanese voices and what the reader reads is just what they are saying but in English. Sorry for the extremely long chapter, it was originally going to just going to the wedding and after that but I felt I should have done a night before thing and a scene with Orihime and settling the whole love triangle thingy if you could call it that.**


End file.
